dear

Loved or liked very much.

• She is a dear friend.
• We visited our dear grandmother yesterday.
• What a dear little baby!

Similar words: beloved, much-loved

Common phrases: dear friend, dear mother, dear little child

Very important to someone because they love or care about it.

• This place is dear to me.
• He keeps everything he holds dear in that box.
• Their family traditions remained dear to them.

How to use it: dear to someone (These old photographs are dear to my mother.); hold someone/something dear (She holds her childhood friends dear.)

Similar words: precious, cherished, treasured

Common phrases: dear to someone, dear to me, hold something dear

Costing a lot of money.

• These apples are rather dear.
• The hotel was too dear for us.
• Is meat getting dearer here?

How to use it: dear for something (The room is rather dear for a single night.)

Similar words: expensive, costly

Opposites: cheap

Common phrases: too dear, rather dear, dear for something

Showing warm love or affection.

• She greeted him with a dear embrace.
• He remembered the dear affection in her voice.
• The poem speaks of a mother’s dear tenderness.

Similar words: affectionate, loving, tender

Opposites: cold

Common phrases: dear embrace, dear affection, dear tenderness

A word used when speaking to someone you love or want to treat kindly.

• Come here, dear.
• Would you like some tea, my dear?
• Thank you, dear, for helping me.

Similar words: darling, sweetheart, love

Common phrases: hello dear, my dear, thank you dear

A person who is very kind and helpful.

• You are such a dear.
• The nurse was a dear and brought me tea.
• Be a dear and open the window.

Similar words: sweetheart, angel

Common phrases: a dear, such a dear, be a dear

Used to show that you are worried, surprised, sad, or unhappy about something.

• Oh dear, I forgot my keys.
• Dear me, that sounds painful!
• Dear, dear! What a terrible mess.

Similar words: oh no, goodness

Common phrases: oh dear, dear me, dear dear